I wake up around 3am every night. I’m not sure why my body does that – it just does. I usually scroll for about half an hour before trying to go back to sleep. Yesterday, one of those early-morning scrolls led me to the South Korean side of sneaker Instagram, and that’s when I saw them: a bunch of Umbro trainers I didn’t even know existed. Proper nice ones too. The kinda stuff New Balance might drop – slim retro runners, slightly nerdy performance shapes, low-key colourways that look good with trousers – except with a double diamond logo whacked on the side instead of an italicised “N”.
This was confusing for two reasons. One: Umbro is a British brand. And two: Umbro, in my head at least, makes football boots and the odd terrace-adjacent shoe. Curious, I did what any insomniac with a solid Wi-Fi connection would do and opened the Umbro UK website. There, in the ‘Trainers’ section, was… one shoe – the Speciali TR offered in nine colour combos. And, I mean… it’s fine! It does the job. But it’s also the only option. That’s it. One silhouette, nine shades, end of story. There’s also a ‘Running Trainers’ section, but when you tap it there’s nothing in there. Huh, weird!
Then I went on Umbro Korea’s site, and it felt like I was transported to a different universe. There was so much stuff. The Regent strangely gets its name from London‘s Regent Street, and looked like the kinda thing you might find from cool running labels like Satisfy or Norda. The ETR-H was the sort of shoe your old man would wear (in a good way). The First Jogger looked like something from the ’80s with a nylon upper and an unhinged gum sole. And then there was the Speciali Plus, which, like the UK’s Speciali TR, nods to football, but it’s bigger, beefier, and just… better. So what’s going on then?
Umbro, for those who don’t know, is one of the UK’s great sportswear exports. Founded in Wilmslow over a hundred years ago, it kitted out England, Brazil, Manchester United and about half the footballing world at one point or another. It’s got heritage for days. The problem is that, outside of football, Umbro in the UK now mostly exists as nostalgia. A bit of terrace culture. A bit of throwback training kit. And, apparently, a single trainer in nine colours.
